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‘Mars’ series premiering today on National Geographic

An innovative hybrid of drama and documentary featuring a manned mission to Mars is premiering at 9 p.m. today, November 14th, on the National Geographic channel.

The documentary shows the brave Daedalus crew of six traveling to the Red Planet. Once they land on the planet after traveling for month in the space, their plan is not to take hold of some rocks and return to Earth. Rather, they make the Red Planet their new home.

The mission takes place in 2033, which is merely 17 years away. Andy Weir, the author of "The Martian" novel, says that humans need to go to another because it will protect them from extinction.

The early-awaited "Mars" series brought together several collaborators. Apart from its scientific consultants, it claims Everardo Gout as its director, Oscar-winning Ron Howard and Brian Grazer as its executive producers, and Justin Wilkes as show runner.

When asked for a comment, Howard said, "The series was a balancing act. It had a documentary component, which is always a question mark at the beginning. Then came fully scripting and shooting the drama, which was meant to take the ideas we were learning and personalizing them."

In real life, Elon Musk-led SpaceX aims to send humans to the Red Planet as early as 2025. However, many experts have raised doubts on the feasibility of Musk's plans.